Sinking Homes Are Not Covered By Insurance

DELRAY BEACH -- Homeowners` insurance will not cover the cost of repairs to 15 sinking Carver Square homes that were built on a pond filled in with trash, the city`s risk manager said on Tuesday.

Staff members studying ways to help the residents make repairs that would prevent the collapse of their homes hoped the insurance policies would address the problem.

``If this is the answer, it might be the simplest,`` Chief Building Official Martin O`Shea said.

But Risk Management Director Lee Graham, who checked into the insurance policies, said they exclude the problem the residents are having. ``I don`t find any coverage for it,`` he said.

Insurance regulations regarding collapsed homes and sinkhole collapses are not broad enough to cover Carver Square, where houses are cracking as they sink into the ground settling under them.

``Collapse does not include settling, cracking, shrinkage, bulging or expansion,`` the regulations say. Florida`s sinkhole provision relates to ``voids created by the action of water on limestone or similar rock formations.``

City officials say they will seek other methods for helping the residents. After city commissioners learned it could cost up to $15,000 to repair each home, they asked their staff to find ways of helping people in the low-income area.

The options the staff are researching include the creation of a special assessment taxing district, federal or state financing, mortgage financing or help through Florida Legal Services.

``We`ll probably start working on all of them and see what`s going to work,`` O`Shea said.

A recent engineering report shows that the land in the area was covered by a small pond that was used as a garbage dump in the 1960s. The report said it appears attempts were made to remove the trash, but the property then was backfilled with trash and loose sand.

Although several commissioners argued against having the city pay for repairs, they did not want the residents left with their houses falling apart and no money to repair them.